


Sailing Far Beyond the Air

by bearshorty



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M, Space AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-14
Updated: 2015-11-14
Packaged: 2018-05-01 14:51:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5209985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bearshorty/pseuds/bearshorty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For a child who grew up on the colonies of Mars, Earth was confining. A tiny spaceship could defy prisons. AU  Written as a pitch hit for RS Games 2015.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sailing Far Beyond the Air

Sirius really needed to steal a spaceship.

When he was seventeen years old and just inherited some money from his Uncle Alphard, the first thing he did was buy a tiny, junky, creaky spaceship that could hold two people on a good day. Well, no. The first thing he did was buy a sturdy leather jacket and boots to seem like a proper pilot. Then he bought a spaceship. It needed a lot of work, a lot of grease, and a lot of complex magic to even get off the ground. James once remarked that Sirius was lucky none of the bulkheads ever gave way during flight. Of course, that didn’t stop him from flying along any chance he got, much to Lily’s exasperation.

His tiny spaceship was not as sleek as the Hogwarts Express - the spaceship that took colonists like him and James and Peter and other pureblood families from Mars and the Moon to London – That Hogwarts Express was much grander than its terrestrial train version, which they had to take later. But this little spaceship was his and it was freedom. And it made his heart easier about being mostly confined to Earth.

But that ship was long gone. Gone with Hagrid and Harry, back to Earth and Dumbledore, while Sirius rotted away in prison at the farthest reaches of the Solar System. But now that Sirius was in the middle of his escape, it occurred to him that he really, really needed to steal one. Being able to turn into a dog might fool the Dementors for a while, but if he was stuck on Pluto, he would be caught easily. And Harry would still be in danger with no way to protect him.

Luckily for Sirius, he knew that Pluto and Charon also housed Muggle prisons with many prison workers who needed supplies and transport. All he had to do was find a way to another prison camp. He heard there were dogs milling about there for protection and company. He might be able to blend. And then steal a spaceship.

*******  
While Sirius been off Mars before when he traveled to the Moon and a few of Mars’ moons with his father, he was eleven when he first set foot on Earth.

When off world colonies became a possibility with new discoveries in space travel and as more and more wizards started to make money in the new businesses and space mining, most pureblood families, spurred by the exclusionary rhetoric and a sense of superiority, decided to uproot from their long established mansions and set up grand houses away from Earth. They were among the few who could afford it and make their new homes extravagant despite the harsh conditions, though magic. They left the Earth to the Muggles, and the Half-Bloods and their supporters, and grew even richer in their new territories.

It was Sirius’ grandfathers, cousins Arcturus and Pollux Black, who first came to Mars as the earliest settlers from the Black Family and they have done rather well for themselves. But even pureblood families like the Weasleys, who were notoriously supportive of Muggles and Muggleborns, still made the way to the colonies, since the Ministry of Magic has mostly relocated as well.

For Sirius, the stories of the Earth felt confining. Beyond his window was the entirety of space and he wanted to explore it all. Being stuck in one place seemed like a prison. At least on Mars, he was one step closer.

He could see Earth from his bedroom window on many nights as he drifted off to sleep. It looked pretty but the Martian sand was home.

Still, when he was eleven he had to go to Earth. While some wizarding schools have been set up in the new environment, old schools on Earth had ancient magic that could not be replicated. So most children still got their letters and went to school thousands of miles away from their parents.

Hogwarts Express was the most beautiful spaceship Sirius had ever seen. It was big and polished and red. Sirius met James Potter as soon as he settled in his seat. And after the ship stopped by the Moon, he met Peter Pettigrew. By the time they landed outside London and were all taken to King’s Cross station, Sirius really hoped they would all be in the same house.

The train ride was fascinating. There were so many colors in the countryside and the landscape kept changing from the towns, to fields, to woods. It was a lot to take in, even too much. The gravity felt heavier, like Sirius was more rooted to the planet. And the strangest and the most disturbing thing was that he could not see the stars during the day.

By the time he got to Hogwarts Castle, Sirius was feeling homesick, despite looking forward to a grand adventure for almost a year. But by then the night has set, and as he sailed in a boat along with the rest of the first years, he looked up at the stars, arranged in such unfamiliar constellations. He would have to learn them all. Finally, Sirius felt comforted.

He would learn to be a great wizard and would go back to those stars as soon as he could.

*********

When Sirius ran away from home when he was sixteen, he ran straight to his best friend’s house in the neighboring settlement. He was elated and scared all at once. For years, his family’s views have grated on him. And now with the rise of He-Who-Would-Not-Be-Named, who wanted to free the colonies from any Muggles or a few non pureblood wizards, who worked and lived among them, not to mention to rule over Earth, living with his family became impossible.

Every time his Mother started spewing her support for those views, Sirius could only think of Remus and his kind face. Remus, who would never have the chance to travel off world. And he also thought of Lily, the fiercest Muggleborn he knew, who aspired to work on Mars after graduation.

He was right to leave but as September was coming closer, he realized that he would not make it back to Mars on the next holiday. He only had enough money to get back to Earth and there he must stay.

The prospect filled him with dread. On one hand, he did enjoy roaming the Forbidden Forest. When he turned seventeen, he and Remus could sneak away and Apparate to London to revel in the nightlife they read about. And Remus would be by his side. He no longer had to agonize about what would happen after they graduated and Remus remained on Earth while Sirius left it. Now he would just stay and they would be together. There will be travel and local adventures and fighting right here on Earth. He could still look at the stars at night.

But he would not be able to get close to Saturn’s rings or dive through the asteroid belt or take a peek at the prison colonies on Pluto. His world would be limited to one planet in the whole universe. A beautiful planet but just the one.

At least he would not be alone. He still had his friends and he had Remus.

*******

Sirius did ask Hagrid what happened to his spaceship. It was a gloomy night in Grimmauld Place, Sirius’ ancestral home that was barely occupied for the last one hundred years.

He was stuck on Earth again and his confinement started to grate on him once more.

He was astounded to learn that Hagrid still had the spaceship. He stored it in the spaceport near Edinburgh, although the ship did need a lot of repairs.

Sirius began to daydream. When the war would be over he could take Harry for a ride and show him all the wonders that Sirius explored with Harry’s father. Maybe he would even travel further. There were so many possibilities. Remus smiled fondly when Sirius told him of his plans. Sirius would talk late into the night sometimes, guiding Remus’ hand along the stars, showing him their route. One day, they would go there together again.

*******

The first time Sirius took Remus for a ride in his ship was on the first full moon after graduation. Other than a few test runs, this was Sirius’ first real trip as well. He planned it for a long time. He told Remus that he was taking him to a special forest to transform, that it would be better than the Shrieking Shack. He even convinced Remus to be blindfolded so he could be surprised. Remus was already edgy as it was only twelve hours to transformation. But he trusted Sirius and his pleading puppy eyes, which Sirius knew Remus could never resist.

Remus has never been off world before. He didn’t know what a spaceship smelled like. Sirius lied to say that they Apparated into a regular car transport. He didn’t catch on until he felt the thrusters. By the time Remus ripped the blindfold off, it was too late.

Remus yelled at him for quite a few minutes. How did Sirius expect the wolf to behave in such close quarters even with Sirius transformed as well? It was illegal to take him off world! If they were caught, Sirius would go to jail for a long time and Remus would be executed! He must turn the ship around! Sirius ignored him and continued to steer. He cleared the Moon, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn and let the ship drift a bit coming close to Neptune.

It was then that Remus, who was been mumbling under his breath for the last few hours and cursing the day he had met the hotheaded, stubborn, and insufferable Sirius Black, noticed the time. It was midnight in Scotland, in the Forbidden Forest. The Earth’s moon was high and bright. But one could not see that particular moon from close to Neptune and its light could not affect the werewolf so far away. Its pull was absent. Only that specific moon could change a person into a wolf. No other moons in the whole universe could do so. Remus did not transform for the first time since he was five.

Werewolves were not permitted to go off world. All the major spaceports had special wards placed on them by the best wizards. All knew the consequences of breaking this law. So Sirius knew that Remus never even thought about how moon looked from space or places where it could not be seen. But Sirius did. And he knew that the Earth was Remus’ prison even more than it was him. So first thing he did, well second, with his new inherited money was to buy a spaceship, which no one would check, to take Remus far beyond the reach of the moon.


End file.
